Hariyanto 1

Daniel T. Hariyanto
Ms. Hannah Meeuwse
Individual & Societies
27 September 2015
The Impacts of the Industrial Revolution on Gender Equality
Ante-Industrial Revolution contrasted greatly from the present, and one of the notable
differentials was the reformation of gender equality. Did you know that before the Industrial
Revolution, women, in reality, were controlled by their husbands? Did you know that women
were bound by inequality laws that reduced them to burdens? The Industrial Revolution
changed all that to the present way of life that we now have through the womens struggle for
gender equality. The Industrial Revolution had sparked the women cause for rights because it
introduced the realization that women were not treated fairly at work which eventually led to
the awareness of inequality at home and established the beliefs that had become the
foundations for their suffrage.
The inequality that women experienced at work was the starting line for women
suffrage. Before the Industrial Revolution, women were not allowed to have jobs; but as the
increase in demands for more customer goods escalated, factory owners were forced to find
another means to enlarge the labor force which led them to women employment. Due to this
and the fact that men were preferred workers, women were considered low priority by factory
owners and were given inferior jobs such as cleaning the factory, scrubbing the chimneys,
etc.; females submit to work in places where no man or even a lad could be got to labor in
(Working Class Women in the Industrial Revolution Period: Mid 18th C - Mid 19th C). Also,
they were paid less than the men despite the same amount of work. This triggered the
beginning thoughts of inequality rights of the women.

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Pondering about their rights was what led them to the discovery of inequality in their
own homes. Although without their realizing it until the Industrial Revolution, women had
few rights at home. The family structure involved the man as the owner of the house and the
household, and his wife as a helper to maintain the house, take care of the child/children, etc.
The husbands were in total control over their wives, and so women had no rights to file for a
divorce and could not keep their own wages; in addition, some men would occasionally beat
their wives. The inequality at home motivated women even more to attain gender equality.
The Industrial Revolution also brought about the beliefs which became the premise
for gender equality. Women believed that they should be treated as equally as men because
God created everyone to be equal. They also believed that they should get a say in decisions
that would affect their lives and could even bring better changes to the society through the
voting system because they claimed that their different paradigm than men would make
society friendlier. One such example of their paradigm difference is the fact that women were
gentler, more insightful, and more cooperative than men who were more brutish, more
obsessed with facts, and more bull-headed. What women believed was what fueled their
cause to fight for gender equality. Their beliefs motivated them to fight for rights.
There are several changes that resulted from gender equality from pre-Industrial
Revolution to present. One of the most noticeable was the fact that the family structure had
transformed: the husband was still the head of the house and household, but he did not
control his wife. Also, both the husband and wife have options to work or to become a
househusband or housewife. One other change was the transformation of lifestyle: prior,
women were extremely dependent on their husbands to provide for their needs and were often
considered a burden; now, women could earn their own living and live alone. Another
prominent difference was the fact that womens social status had improved: before the

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Industrial Revolution, women were looked down upon and, as stated above, were considered
a low priority; now, people respected and looked to both men and women and viewed women
as a necessity and joy in society. This was a dramatic modification from the past, and
presently, women were given almost the same number of rights and privileges as men. These
were some of the good reformations that derived from gender equality.
However, there were some negative alterations as well. In the past, women were
notable for their submissiveness, domesticity, piety, and purity; but now, almost all of those
ideals have been washed away from women today. The disappearance of these ideals emerged
when women began to lose respect and submissiveness toward men and when women failed
to retain their domesticity, their family life; this induced women to go into prostitution,
divorce, etc. As a result, women strayed away from their piety, or religiousness, which was
what defined women in the past and was what regarded women as holy. Along with the
withering away of piety was the vanishing of purity within women. Purity worked hand-inhand with piety and was the most important aspect of the four ideals: a woman without purity
in pre-Industrial Revolution would often be cast out of society. However, even though there
are a few drawbacks, gender equality is still quite necessary in society.
The Industrial Revolution had sparked the women cause for rights because it
introduced the realization that women were not treated fairly at work which eventually led to
the awareness of inequality at home and established the beliefs that had become the
foundations for their suffrage. For the most part, the Industrial Revolution was the one
responsible for the cause of gender equality. It mainly hanged on the fact that it instigated
efficient methods of producing goods which led to women employment where women
uncovered the dark inequality secrets within society. This started a flow of rebellion against
gender discrimination which began to gush out into a river when women found more of these

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unfairness in their lives especially at home. Not only that, the Industrial Revolution provided
the framework for this global gender war too. All these points divulged that the Industrial
Revolution had definitely initiated the transformation from pre-Industrial Revolution to
present. All in all, from the research, gender equality undoubtedly rooted out of the Industrial
Revolution and played quite a large role in our lives.

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